Japan began discharging water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant on Thursday, despite strong opposition from China and concern from Japanese fishermen. Beijing immediately denounced a “selfish and irresponsible” action. The process, which includes pumps, valves and a complex network of pipes, began shortly after 1 p.m. Japanese time after a brief countdown, according to a live video broadcast by Tepco, the plant operator. .
In total, Japan plans to evacuate into the Pacific Ocean more than 1.3 million m3 of wastewater stored so far on the site of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, from rainwater, groundwater underground and injections needed to cool the cores of reactors that went into meltdown after the March 2011 tsunami that devastated the northeast coast of the country.
This level is forty times lower than the Japanese national standard for tritiated water aligned with the international standard (60,000 Bq/L), and it is also approximately seven times lower than the limit established by the World Health Organization ( WHO) for drinking water (10,000 Bq/L).
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which oversees the dumping operation, gave the green light in July, saying the project met “international safety standards” and will have a radiological impact “negligible on population and environment”.
“The ocean is the common good of humanity. Forcibly dumping contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea is an extremely selfish and irresponsible action that disregards the international public interest,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. communicated. In the process, China announced to suspend all imports of seafood products from Japan.
Japan must “transparently publish” data on the impact of water discharges from Fukushima “over the next 30 years”, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Thursday. For its part, North Korea is urging Japan to “immediately stop” the releases.
